Sigmund elsinger



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SIGMUN D ELSINGER, OF SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN C. REUTER, OF SAME PLACE.

FIRE-KINDLER..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 486,966, dated November 29, 1892.

Application filed July 6, 1892. Serial No. 439,168. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SIGMUND ELSINGER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Savannah, in the county of Ohathamand State of 5 Georgia, have invented a new and useful Fire-Kindler, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in fire-kindlers, and has for its object to provide a cheap article in a convenient form for shipmentand use which shall contain the inflammable element peculiar to kerosene or crude oil without the danger which is incident to the use of fuel covered with orsoaked in such oil.

I With this objectin view my invention consists in preparing wood by treating With a mixture of a carbon oil, an acid, and a resinous Vehicle or paste. The acid is designed to open the pores of the wood for the easy and free reception of the oil, and the resinous matter, rosin being the preferred substance, is designed to enter the pores with the oil and prevent escape by evaporation or otherwise, and also to form a complete coating upon the surface of the wood to prevent premature ignition and exclude the air and moisture therefrom, so that the fuel maybe preserved from decay.

In detail my improved process of preparing kindling-wood is as follows: A mixture composed of an acid, such as sulphuric, and a carbon oil, such as crude oil or kerosene, and a resinous substance, such as rosin, is boiled until thoroughly combined. The wood,

cutin convenient shape and size for handling, is-then placed in the boiling mixture and boiled for a few minutes. The wood is then removed from the mixture and dipped in a resinous paste, such as semi-liquid rosin, so

as to form a complete coating upon the sur- 4o face of the pieces, and finally the prepared sticks are dried.

It will be noted that in my improved process I first cut the wood to be treated into convenient lengths for shipment and use,after 5 which I boil the same in the compound containing the acid, as described, the last-named ingredient being useful when heated to the boiling-point in cutting its way into the fiber of the wood and providing a way for the other ingredients to enter. Furthermore, said acid forms a highly-inflammable element of the prepared fuel.

The subsequent dipping of the blocks in a resinous paste provides a coating which is impermeable to air and water and retains the fuel in its original condition for an indefinite period.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

The process of treating whole wood for tirekindlers, consisting in first boiling the same in a mixture of sulphuric acid, crude oil, and rosin, and subsequently dipping the same into semi-fluid rosin to form a coating, substantiallyv as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

SIGMUND ELSINGER.

WVitnesses:

JULIUS KAUFMANN, J. STERN. 

